Braintrust Integration of OpenAI Codex

Braintrust, an observability and eval platform for AI products, has integrated OpenAI Codex to accelerate the development of new features. By using Codex, Braintrust engineers can now convert customer requests into working code previews in minutes, shifting from a backlog-based prioritization system to real-time iteration with users.

Real-Time Iteration on Customer Requests

Braintrust has replaced traditional feature request backlogs with a real-time ideation process. Engineers copy and paste customer requests directly into Codex to create preview branches, allowing them to demonstrate working ideas to customers almost immediately.

According to founder and CEO Ankur Goyal, this capability allows the team to "iterate and ideate on feature requests with the customer in real time."

Impact on Development Velocity and Workflow

Within one month of adoption, half of the Braintrust team transitioned to Codex. The primary driver for this adoption is the speed of the model, which Goyal notes is a critical differentiator from other models.

"The biggest gain is speed."

Goyal highlights that Codex can output text to the terminal without slowing down, a performance characteristic that changes how the team interacts with the tool compared to other alternatives.

Autonomous Problem-Solving and Experimentation

The speed of Codex has enabled Braintrust to move away from manual, step-by-step prompting. Instead, the team has adopted a workflow where they write a test that demonstrates a problem, create a sandbox environment, and allow Codex to operate within that environment to find a solution.

This shift reduces the cost of experimentation and the amount of setup required to try new ideas. By defining the problem in a controlled environment and letting the model work autonomously, Braintrust engineers can move more rapidly from an initial idea to a working solution.